Improvement in sewing-machines



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. 0. GROVER. SEWING MACHINE.

No. 21,752. Patented Oct 12, 1858.

lnvemur.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. 0. GROVER.

SEWING MACHINE.

Inventor;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

W. O. GROVER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINES.

Specificationforming part of Letters Patent 1 \'o.. 2|,752, dated October 12, 1858.

To all. whom it may concern Be it known that I, W. O. GROVER, of the city of Boston, in the State of Massachusetts,

have invented certain new and useful Im roveapplicable to all the varieties ofstyle of hed-- plate, and to any arrangement of treadle .and drivingwheels.

' These improvements relate to the support and driving apparatus of the machine exclu- -sively, and have for their object the driving of the machine when geared up in a manner not liable to derangement or needing adjustwent after a certain amount of use, and the supporting of the machine in such manner that it shall, work without noise; and to these ends thenature of the first part of my invention consists in driving or speeding up a sewing-machine by the use of two concave-faced wheels, to either one of which is applied a tire-belt or working-faoe of india-..rubber or gutta-percha,

or equivalent elastic material, the whole com bined and acting substantially as specified.

The nature of the second part of my inven tion consists in supporting and steadying the machine upon its table or bench by the i -er-.

vention of a tube of india rubber or 0 her equivalent material, when this is combined with a pin or plug of metal attached 'to-either the bed-plate or the table and passingthrough the tube aforesaid, the whole being and acting substantially as hereinafter set forth.

In describing my invention there exists no necessity for reference to the sewing mechanism of the machine, as my invention has no relation to any special machine, all that is necessary being to say that the bed-plate a a a supports the parts necessary to constitute a sewing mechanism. On some proper part of this bed-plate are attached proper standards or hangers, in which is mounted a main driving-shaft, b I mounted upon or attached to which is 'a driving-pulley, c c. The face of this pulley'is turned out concave, and either to the bed-plate or to the table is fastened another box, d, or any proper means of supporting the axis f of a large wheel, 7:, the face of which is also concaved. An endless band or tire of india-rubber or gutta-pereha, either solid or tubular, (but I prefer the latter,) is then procured and stretched over the greatest diameter of wheel or pulley, and allowed to shrink into the concave, hugging tightly the face which it surrounds. In the drawings this tireor belt is shown at g g, and is applied to the pulley, for this application is lesseostly :than that 'to the wheel, as less length is required. The two wheels are set at such distances from each other that the convexpe riphery ongreatest circumference of the belt enters into the concave of the oppositepulley or wheel to a sufficient extent to drivethe machine. by the friction of one face on the other, and'this adjustment need not be a nice one, as a friction between the two surfaces muchmore than necessary to drive the machine will not affect materially the amount of power required to driveit. Moreover, the india-rnbber belt flattens at the point of contact, thusincreasing its grasp upon the driving-surfitce, and, fur ther, it is narrowed or pinched up at the point of contact by the grip of the concave surface, which it acts upon. If thebelt ortire be tubular, this flattening and pinching up are increased, and a power that would almost break down the machine can be applied without danger of slipping. To the bed-plate of the machine are attached .pins or rods mm, projecting downward therefrom, and in the table or bench, with centers coincident, or nearly so, with the pins, are bored out holes,into which areinserted tightly cylinders of india-rubber or equivalent material, such as n 11-. These holesmust be closed or have a ledge at the bottom, or some other support preventing the tubes from be ing pressed through the table; and it is best to permit the tubes, wheii put in, to rise slightly above the surface of the table. Now,

inspection of the drawings will show that all the sidewise jars of the bed-plate are received by the bore and the periphery of the tubes, and that all the up and down vibrations are received by the upper surfaces of the short tubes on which the machine rests, as on cushions.

that the machine will wear longer and remain n ad ustment for agreater length of time than 1s now usual, and it is needless to debateupon flllllll/l/lllflllllWll/Wl/ll/llllf fects are accomplished, as al mere inspection of the drawings will prove this to any niechanic. When the bed-plate is supported by this method, or by any -method in which it rests, as it were, upon cushions, and the treadlewheel and driving-pulley are also in contact by an elastic belt or working-face applied to either of them. then the machine rests its weight partly upon the elastic cushions and partly upon the elastic belt. 'Its own or part of its own weight therefore regulates the amount of compression of the elastic drivingface, and as that face wears away the machine comes down farther and farther, itself compensating for the wear. Moreover, there is no need of any primary adjustments, in the proper sense of the term, of the distance be{ tween the face of the wheel and pulley, all that is necessary being that the elastic belt or. the cushions shall yield to something less than the who e weight of the machine. The combineduse of these two kinds of elastic supports, moreover, obviates any trifling irregularities in the thickness of the elastic 'belt, any slight eccentricity in either wheel orpulley, and any differences of elasticity in different portions of the belt; and all these are items of importancein machinery which re; quires such nice workmanship and adjustment as a sewing-machine. I intend at times to secure the pins" to the table and let the rubber tubes into sockets drilled out of the bed-plate of the machine.

' I'am aware of the fact that cushions or elastic supports for the bed-plate 'of sewing-ma chinesare now in use, but do not knowthat such supports pro-videagainst both lateral and vertical vibrations.

Practice proves that this method of supportmgand steadying a bed-plate o'bviates almost entirely the ring or rattle of a sewing-machlne in operation, and it follows I am also aware of the fact that wheels and pulleys, the one driving the other by. friction,

Wl'W/lil/illlllllli/Wll/Wl/ltl will a concave non-elastic face, by which arrange ment the pinching and flatteningof the elas- -tic belt are brought into play; and although I speak in this specification of two concave feed-wheels, in combination with an elastic belt inc-losing and gripping one of them, I

wish it distinctly understoodthat the concavity in that wheel to which the belt is applied and which it grips is a mere matter of convenience, not a material part of the invention, as the apparatus would be the same in principle and efi'ect, no matter what may be the contour of the periphery which the belt hugs, all that is necessary being that a con cavc rigid face should drive or be driven by contact with a convex 'elasticface.

- .Having thus described myimprovements, I claim as of my .own invention- 1. Driving or speeding up a sewin'gmachine by means of a convex elastic face'onone wheel or pulley acting in combination with and by friction upon a non-elastic concave face on another wheel or pulley, combined and acting together substantially in the manner and for the purposes specified. v

2. Supporting and steadying a sewing-machine by thecombination ofa tube of indiarubber or its equivalent with an internal pin or projection, the two being fitted andacting. substantially in the manner and for the pn r- .poses herein set forth.

In testimony whereoftI have hereunto subscribed my name, in the city of Boston, this 30th day of September, A. D. 1857 w. o. enovnn. 

